The Protonix Ghostbusters: Shadows of the Past
by Ectotronic
Summary: As the Ghostbusters continue to become accustomed to life in New York and expand their capabilities, the mystery behind the black slime continues to grow as they face down increasing threats across the globe as they must fight through the horror and destruction to protect the lives in the path. Becoming a team like no other, they prepare the world for what is to come of its future.
1. Business As Usual

**The Protonix Ghostbusters**

**Shadows of the Past**

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**It's Spooktober, so why not?**

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**Chapter 1: Business As Usual**

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_November 4th, 2013_

_New York City, New York_

The urban jungle, the Big Apple, The Empire City, The City So Nice They Named It Twice, all names that people have called the landscape that is populated with around eight million people.

Everywhere you looked, you had a high possibility of seeing something strange even by NYC's standards. Either it is a car that shouldn't be on the roads or a person trying to bring back a fashion trend from the 90s. However, what caught pedestrians off guard the most now, despite being so used to hearing police, fire engines, and ambulances racing by, was the sound of a siren that was much different. It whirled more than the rapid clicks emergency vehicles were common for when responding to a situation.

At the corner of fifth avenue and East forty-fifth street, the usual bustle of the city was at it every day. As a red light on fifth held lines of cars on each side allowing citizens to cross while traffic flowed in the other road, the canyon-like formation that the skyscrapers made was increasingly echoing out a _'reeeeee' _sound with a mass of lights came barreling through. Even though the lights turned red, the vehicle passed traffic into the intersection. It's top-heavy roof rack pulling it down with its momentum as its tires squealed against the pavement. Several horns and shouts all being aimed in its direction as it sped down Fifth.

Its destination only four blocks away and closing.

Many who know what happened in 1984 would know about the Public Library. A place where something happened that would change the world by three men after being scared off. But the sight now of an Ectomobile racing down the street, coming to a screeching halt directly in front of the building, would make one think they were back for revenge. As the siren died down to silence, the emergency lights fading to a faint pulse as only four blinker lights remained flashing, indicating a parked emergency vehicle, the front doors both clicked and swung open.

Stepping out of the driver's door was a twenty-year-old who looked more like a twenty-seven-year-old. He stood around five foot eight, possibly an inch or two taller due to the combat boots he was wearing, dressed in an outfit that comprised of hot rod red elbow and knee pads, a blackwork coat with a white undershirt being sandwiched between the coat and even more black motocross chest armor. Around the top holding his faded black jeans was a belt that fit on a variety of pockets, sensors, holsters, clips, and pouches.

The teen in question that made him look hold had a much thicker hairstyle than he did some time ago, being an almost brownish mass with it curling slightly in the back around his neck when he wore a hat for long durations of time but yet was a bit messy. Beard stubble was already starting to reclaim his chin, though it remained relatively short to being almost a tan line of hair.

Derek Stewart looked at the building before him. Being that this wasn't the first time he's been to the famous Public Library since he came here, he still was more or less having deja vu that the most recent call came from this place.

"You said Leo was sure he got something?" he asked over to the figure stepping out of the passenger door.

This time they donned a one-piece navy blue jumpsuit with grey pads and boots just like Derek's. The only other contrasting color other than the No-Ghost logo on her right shoulder was her left breast pocket with a name tag in the equally red-colored text saying 'BUCKER' on it with her jet black hair tied up in a bun.

Rachel nodded, looking at her new iPhone 5s on the report they got from the library by Leo, "He seemed pretty sure to me. When he said to bring the grenades, I thought he was joking." she headed around to the back of the SUV. Both meet each other as Derek popped open the trunk.

Inside was a real eye-catching sight of dozens of tools, wires, and sensors all over the back of the GMC. On the trays that took up most of the space, two large proton packs sat side by side waiting to be dawned. Pulling out the tray, Derek first grabbed the pack that had a purple coloration to the ribs, cyclotron rings, and straps, one of the personalizations Rachel, like the others, did to her pack—holding the hundred sixty-pound pack up for her to slip the straps on. Having gotten used to having put it on, she quickly strapped herself in and buckled the waist strap.

Letting her body now take the brunt of the weight. Derek, on the other hand, flung his pack over like it was a regular backpack. Having been that when he started over a year ago, the pack itself weighed 200 pounds, being lighter, only helping to ease the pain his back would sometimes get. Once both were strapped in, they started grabbing the various equipment around the trunk.

"I'm just saying this to point out the possibility of an energy source here is still a one out of ten-thousand chance." she grabbed her pistol from a side rack. Locking the holster around her leg as she reached back to connect the cable.

"I know," Derek slid his rifle onto his belt, going to grab the traps, "But with what's been happening all over this place, what are the odds it was just four blocks from around the corner from where we're staying at?" he clipped on both a wireless trap and a pressure trap with its cord wrapped up around the handle below it.

"That's not what I meant." she said, grabbing a Pke meter as Derek dawned his own and goggles, "Leo said it could be animators again."

"So?"

She turned to him with a deadpan expression; seeing this, he halted in his task. "What?"

Rachel didn't reply as she turned away to head to the building. Still confused, Derek grabbed a small silver briefcase before shutting the gate down and quickly jogging back up as he locked the car to get back up to Rachel's side.

"You remembered that time during that trip to Buffalo?" She said once he was behind her.

"The Patterson house? What about it?"

"_What about it_?" She looked back, "They claim that some paranormal force is trying to take their son and have said to drag the parents out of the house when it was just them falling down the stairs at night and being half asleep."

"But you forget Rachel, the EVPs that transpired at night was something to take into consideration."

_"Oh… Derek," _she sighed, "You stared at a computer monitor watching three days worth of surveillance footage from 16 different cameras. What did you see?" she turned to him fully. Both were now standing at the central doorway to the library.

"I just feel that this job is already gonna put us into retirement in the next three months."

"Hey, come on! It hasn't been _that _bad." she didn't look fazed. Making him have to continue with the more unfortunate part. _"Yet."_

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed him by the strap and pulled him forward. Locking their lips for just a second, it was fast, but it held a lot.

"Come on," she said, pushing the door open, "Let's go find Leo and get this job done."

Following behind her while still smirking from her little act, Derek followed her towards the main reading hall. The trip up the steps was still a trudge up with all the weight on them. By the time they reach the third floor of any building, they're usually patting by now. The hallways were an interesting one, the looks they got from people passing by as they stayed close to the edge. When they got to the doorway to the reading room, it was a beautiful sight. With all the windows lining the walls letting in the rays of sunshine to make all the fine wood that made up its floor, tables, book stacks, and so on.

Stepping right passed the door; they could vaguely hear the level of noise in the room drop a bar.

"No need to worry, folks!" Derek announced, they keeping his voice down, "Just an investigating in a spook sighting." It seemed to unnerve some, however, most simply returned to their business. Figuring it was enough, the two marched forward. They were passing down the center towards the back room.

"Hey," Rachel slowed her pace down. Pointing ahead to a dirty blond man wearing an olive green jumpsuit sitting cross-legged on the floor with a stethoscope holding it up to the underside of the table. His eyes were only glancing at times to his watch. Derek looked to Rachel with a devilish smile; if there was a movie camera nearby, he was sure to break the fourth wall at what he was about to do.

Rachel didn't stop him. She was just standing there, trying to prepare herself for Derek to reenact a famous movie scene again.

Walking right up behind him, which was a bit incredible that the man didn't hear him with all the rattling equipment, slowly lowered himself over the table with the knuckles of his gloves clicking on the hardwood.

_"Ooooo… Leooooooooo…" _he said in his best 'spooky voice'. The man was suddenly looking up at hearing the strange clicking coming from the table.

With his prey distracted, Derek went for the kill. He was reaching back as he grabbed an encyclopedia off the table behind him while still clicking. In a quick motion, he grabbed the bottom of the book with both hands before slamming it on the table.

**_*SMASH*_**

_"GAH!"_

Leo jumped to his feet when the slam sent a shockwave into his ears. Even people around doing what they were doing all looking over to them. Some even laughing or even clapping at such a funny sight. Rachel couldn't hold it; she let a slight chuckle escape her hold that opened the floodgates.

"HAHAHA Jesus, Leo, you set yourself up for that one!"

Grubbling Leo pulled the stethoscope off, "We are in a library, you know." he practically hissed.

"Yeah, and next you're going to say you didn't try drilling a hole through your head. _Dr. Spengler._" Derek teased.

"It's was in the name of science! _GAH! _Did you bring the stuff?" Derek held up the briefcase to him. Leo was swiftly taking the case as he headed towards the back of the reading room.

"So, what do we got here?" Derek said, knowing it was fully working time now.

Stuffing the scope away, Leo pulled his Pke up. It was the same one he liked using for the past year now. Saying that he liked the heavy feeling it gave him felt like he held some kind of power. Pulling the antenna out of the protective housing to prevent it from getting snapped off, the two small arms pulsed a steady red light as the bar graph recalibrated to the area's current measurements.

"There is definitely something here. I had several different spikes hitting around the area, but I haven't had the chance to look around the building since I got here."

"You thinking it could be black slime?" Rachel asked, hoping it wasn't. None of them did. Sure they had the slime blowers on their packs now actually able to do their jobs, but it was bad enough when just a puddle of the stuff was nearby. Ever since they got here, reports started coming in about the stuff; they had neutralized must of the oil refinery over a month ago and kept some for research and tests. To have it in or around a heavy traffic area like this would just spell out incoming disasters.

Leo thought, shook his head, "I don't think so. What I've been getting points to just a stray manifestation. Possibly because of all the energy in the air; if it had enough to form it formed here."

"And you said there were witnesses?"

He nodded, "Few glimpses from the corner of the eye but nothing solid. Book levitation, a horrid smell, and the sound of someone shushing them."

"Did you check with the librarian?"

"I did."

He leads them to the backroom that went across the back of the reading room. In the right-wing, there were two people waiting. A well-dressed man in a casual gray suit that looked more concerned than one should and woman had to at least be in her fifties dressed in a mix of purple and white that told anyone that this was a person who liked to enjoy her time with a nice moment. She was laying across a table with a coat covering her like a blanket with another under her head being propped up by two books like a pillow. Her hands with gripping the edges of the table but couldn't get a grip due to her shaking so badly. Upon hearing the door creak open, the women tensed, making the man look up as they watched the trio join them.

"Guys, this is John Delicore. He's the library administrator and the one that called in the report." Leo pointed to the man who reached his hand out with a newfound smile.

Derek reached out, shaking it with a small smile of his own, "Hi, Derek Stewart of the Ghostbusters. So we heard you have a little problem, eh?"

He slowly shook his head, "Yes, well, thank you for coming. I hope we can clear this up quickly and quietly."

"Let's not rush things." Derek said in a more serious tone, "We don't even know what you have yet."

All the while, Rachel had quickly gone to the women's side. Looking up, the woman actually eased her shaking only slightly upon seeing the Ghostbuster, "Hi there, miss. My name's Rachel, what's yours?"

"A-Alice." She spoke in a way someone would if they were freezing.

"Alice," Bucker got down in a crouched position despite the equipment. Reaching down into one of her pockets, she pulled out a small white case with a red cross on it. "I'm gonna run just a few checks and ask some questions if that is alright with you?"

She nodded. Popping the case open on the table, she first fished out a small orange flashlight, standing back up as she briefly shined it in the librarian's eyes, checking pupil constriction. They shrank a little, but remained as big as someone almost scared to death would be. Putting the light away, she pulled out a small thermometer bringing it up to Alice's quivering lips.

"Alright, first question, When did you last see your doctor?"

"Roughly a month ago…" Alice muttered with the rod in her mouth.

"And you're not on any medication, no complications or sickness of any kind?" She shook her head. Rachel then pulled the thermometer out, she was running a little high, but thankfully all that she would most likely was a rest and maybe a cold washcloth.

"Temperature is normal."

Derek, coming up to the other side of the table, then asked, "When you first saw the entity, what happened before that?"

"Well, I… I was putting away some books when I felt like there was literally someone watching me. I thought not much of it until all the card shelves started to fly out. I tried running back towards one of the exits, and that's when I saw it. I didn't see any legs, but it definitely had arms because it tried to reach out and grab me."

Derek reached up, scratching his stubble when thinking of the entity's description, "Maybe a Class 4? Full body apparition? Did it look human?"

Alice nodded, "For the most part, it was, but for when it tried to attack, it changed into a complete monster." This made Derek think deeper. Pulling out his Pke, he pulled up the Entity-Lists, or basically the entire collective data they had gathered since day 1, for possible matches for strength, abilities, and maybe an easier way to bust it.

Rachel then proceeded to lift up Alice's left arm, holding her by the wrist as she pressed two fingers against the inside. "Have you had any past encounters with strange anomalies of any kind?"

She glanced away for a moment before looking back, "My grandfather thought he was the philosopher's stone. He would keep on breaking his finger, thinking that all he had to do was just stick it in his mouth, and it'll be fixed."

Several confusing brows went up at the moment. Rachel was looking over to Derek with a face that told him that alone was a bit too strange.

"Guys," they turned to see Leo standing in the doorway that leads down to the bottom floors, his Pke buzz and pulsing faster than it was last time with the wings now higher, "It's moving. It may still be in the same area as when Alice encountered it."

Without much hesitation, the two jumped up, Rachel quickly packing the case back up as Derek reached back, pulling his massive thrower off the pack. Feeling the nearly ten-pound gun in his hands, his thumb reached up to the large toggle switch that once he flipped it up, the entire proton pack lite up with its famous hum. The power cell building up as the cores began to glow red with the monitor and status bars powering up and running a startup cycle.

Marking down the spiraling stairs into a much darker part of the building, the team could collectively feel the temperature actually start dropping. They soon came into a small reading room with 3 of the walls covered with bookshelves with a large table near the middle of the room.

"Signals getting stronger…" Leo was the first to progress into the room. His meter held out so that he could try and track it better. Derek followed closely behind, jerking his head down to allow the ecto-goggles to fall over his eyes as he scanned the room as well. Rachel followed in closing the doors; they didn't want some poor bastard running in scaring them or getting attacked or accidentally shot at.

Derek scanned across the room for anything that seemed out of the ordinary that no one else could see. Passing over the bookcases, he found that there were traces of pke but as if the entity only barely ran a hand across it. It gave the appearance that someone ran a blob of snot, and it eventually blended in. He shifted over to the other side of the room, passing over Rachel as he scanned over the reading area. It was fine until the red display ring shifted into the yellow middle ring, and that was joined by the center green one.

Everything that wasn't nailed down or weight a crapload started rising off the ground. First, it was the chairs and some books, but that was joined by the whole tables and even the couches.

"Woah, full-on levitation!" Derek said with excitement. It wasn't that often when they had the opportunity to record these kinds of events from start to finish without being attacked.

"_Derek_…" Leo called out quietly.

"You got something?" He turned to Leo's direction.

"I got something… right here." He pointed his meter at the bookcase in front of him, from the goggles. Like the floating objects, the rings resynced on the case, though this time, the bar graph on display shifted from all green to all red.

Slowly approaching, Derek pointed his thrower forward, ready to blast anything that would appear. Rachel came up with her hand waiting on her pistol, ready in case that if Derek missed, she could quickly take a shot. Leo instinctively backed up; his meter was already almost maxing out the graph in spiking red.

Then, in what sounded like a gust of wind forming and blowing past, the entity formed with its back turned to them. It was a ghostly pinkish white color perfectly resembling a human that floated roughly two feet off the ground without any form of legs visible. Its hair was tied in a bun similar to Rachel's, but the hair itself and face told them that the women were fairly old in of herself. Derek went to step forward, but Leo looked back with a finger held to his mouth. Taking the hint, Derek retracted back as Johnson returned to the ghost.

"Alright, everyone quiet… Let's get a solid scan."

But the entity, who up until that moment seemed to ignore them, looked away from her book at the trio. She too brought a finger up to her lips and let out a low spine chilling _'Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' _before completely turning around. Leo had to quickly sidestep her as she flew nearly through him towards the door leading to the other parts of the library.

Thought Derek quickly acted, his thumb smashing down on the trigger as the proton stream erupted from the barrel, just barely grazing her and hitting the door as she passed through. Once she was gone, everything that was levitating had suddenly lost its powers and fell violently to the ground. Something smashing into splinters from the force as books were thrown off shelves.

"Dammit." Derek growled, yanking his goggles back up, "Missed her."

Eying the extensive damage a thought came to Leo; from his earlier investigation and talk with the admin, he clearly spoke in concern about the old, rare, and special collections and possibly collateral damage. "The administrator said there was a lot of old stuff in here, so we need to keep damage to as minimal as possible."

Derek nodded; it was something they didn't need happening that would result in them shelling out more cash. "Then I guess it will be best to use the stasis streams. If it moves as fast as the reports say that we really need to slow it down before we try to trap it."

Flicking his thumb across the top of the rear handle of his thrower, his glove caught onto a rigid dial similar to a coin, flicking it a few times until a dark blue tab appeared aligning itself with a small triangle that points up at the wheel. The pack reacted to the change; red light on the thrower changed to a dark blue as the twelve ribs that covered the three gearboxes on the pack suddenly flashed to life with bars that looked like smaller versions of the power cell. The cycling cores on the cyclotron went dark for a moment before flashing the same blue as the thrower light.

Marching up towards the doors, Derek heaved his right leg up with as much force as he could and brought his boot against the center of the doors just below the hands. Both violently swung open as the next room showed the same results as the last one, only now was the ghost floating at another bookshelf. Almost immediately, she turned around and flew down the hall. Before the trio could give chase, the shelf she was at turned almost a complete 90-degrees and slamming up against the wall, blocking the doorway completely.

Quickly running up, Derek tried prying the shelf loose, but it failed to move. "Damn. She got away." Derek seethed as he tried even shaking it. Still no effect.

"Readings are hot, Derek. Whatever it definitely has some high levels of Pke coming off of it."

"All the more reason to get her in a trap as soon as possible." He headed towards the side door that leads to one of the main storage rooms that linked into other areas of the floor. Stepping out and down a small flight of stairs, he took the lead as he scanned the maze of bookshelves all over the place.

And then there was a deep groan throughout the building, and all the lights went out.

With only their equipment and some emergency lights in some spots being the only illumination they had, they only stopped walking until they were mostly in darkness.

"Oh, that's just great," Rachel muttered, flicking on her flashlight as the others did the same.

Then, with every meter suddenly spiking inactivity, a purplish mist rocketed out from the wall near the backside of the shelves.

_"There it is!" _Derek immediately dashed forward into the shelves. His sudden sprint caught the others off-guard for a moment, making them run after him. But before Leo, who was right behind him, was about to go down the aisle, one of the shelves along the wall whipped around like a massive door blocking his path.

"What the?!" With their path block, he immediately went to the next aisle.

Only for that one to do the same thing. After the third one, he came towards the middle of the room, just barely seeing Derek run by.

"Derek! Wait up!" He shouted. Dashing around as Rachel tried keeping up.

But like what happened to Leo, two shelves suddenly came out in front of her like massive doors blocking her way between them. There was a gap between them since they weren't big enough to reach across completely. She could squeeze through, but when she got close, another shelf from behind came and cut that idea.

"LEO!" Rachel shouted, trying to move the bookcase with no vale. There was one more opening left that leads into the maze to her right, and she jumped to get around it quickly-

_**BAM!**_

The case on the other side came flying forward, pushing her back in a spray of books. The force was nearly knocking the wind out of her as it was enough to drop her shields by a bar.

Rubbing her head from the sudden impact of hitting the top of her pack, she slowly got back up, "Oh, that's just even better..."

_"Well... that happened..." _Derek's voice crackled through the radio with some interference.

_"Yeah, I'll say that was well thought out..."_ Leo replied through much clearer.

_"Okay, the new plan is to fan out." There's three of us and only one of her, so we should be able to nab her."_

_"Flexible approach, Derek."_

_"There's three of us and only one of her. So we should be able to nab her."_

"So what the hell am I suppose to do?" Rachel shouted through the mic while gesturing to no one her blockade. "Every through is-"

There was another heavy groan. Much like the other shelves did before moving. From the corner of her eye, she could see one closer to her start moving and step out of the way. Carefully leaning around the corner, she could see down the aisle that turned a corner to the right.

"Blocked..."

_"What was that, Rachel? You cut off then heard something slam."_

_*sigh*_ "I'll see you guys in a bit." Tightening her grip on her thrower, she spun the dial into Stasis. Being this enclosed was something that has a weapon like Shock Blast paid to have at your side.

Tracking down the alley, she kept her gaze on everything she could. With ghosts that were even remotely smart enough, they could come flying through the wall and ambush you. Passing under an emergency light that gave off a low orange glow that barely lite the corner, Rachel hugged the bookshelf closely, peering around to see if anything would pop out.

With no sign of anything, she crept around. The bookcases were forking with one way going straight down the middle and the other going around the next part of the wall.

_"Temp's dropping."_ Leo voiced from the radio, _"Event imminent. Keep your eyes open and meters out at the ready."_

_"HEY! UGLY JUST SHOT AROUND THE CORNER!"_ Derek yelled as the sound of an inhuman roar, and a proton stream went off in the background.

Wincing at the sound, Rachel concluded on following the path along the wall. Rounding the bend, she could feel a shiver rocket through her body. Leo wasn't kidding when the temperature was dropping. It already felt so cold she could actually see her breath every time she exhaled.

Reaching around, she went and plucked her Pke out. Carefully juggling it over to her free hand as she held the thrower in her right hand. It was heavy; even without the same upgrades, Derek had to hold 10+ pounds of a gun on the end of the stick was just burning her wrist. How Derek used to this was beyond her given the fact he can hold two and still easily use them.

She came to a small junction in the cases. A clearing with a middle case and a path leading to the left. But as she got closer, the meter began to spike. The wings rapidly rising as a detection beep sounded that readings were rapidly climbing.

_'Shhhhhh'_

Rachel nearly jumped back when the ghost lady came flying through the bookshelves to her left down the hall. As fast as she had appeared and disappeared, the meter began to calm down but still spiking. Reframing her grasp, she came to the edge of the bookcase, looking around the corner for anything else. The meter spiked some more, signaling she was getting closer to her target, meaning having to follow that ghost where ever she went.

Taking a deep breath that even in the overhead lights from the next room over, she could see the mist form, she mustered up her determination. But that was a bit peeving when your hand is getting cramped up. With reluctance, she reached back, clipping her gun back. It was a bad idea; she knew that. Her team knew that. God probably knew that, but so far, its been mostly sight encounters. As if she was being led somewhere.

The room next door was thankful, lite. Unlike the mess of the main room, this one didn't seem all that out of the ordinary. A normal room full of books and not nightmares. A quick glance at the wall sign told her where she was heading; Juvenile, Rare, New Books, Curriculum, and Current.

Rounding the corner through the door into a small hallway, Rachel couldn't help but feel something was very, _very, _off-putting in the air. It wasn't cold, the meter had only spiked little, and she had yet to hear anything for the others on the radio.

But as she went down the next corner that had a hallway with two doors and a drinking fountain, she nearly jumped out of her suit when she looked down the hall from where what sounded like a little girl laughing came from. And a toy panda being dragged across the floor from behind the fountain into the door like a child would pull their toy.

A quick glance at the door at her left, she immediately tried the handle. Nothing.

With a sigh, she slowly approached the door the bear had gone through. Looking behind the fountain for anything before looking around the door frame. The room was dark with some lights on, but it was mostly dim to where her flashlight was a better source.

Upon stepping at least 5 feet into the room, she could faintly see the same toy panda sitting across the room, staring ahead towards her like it was placed there to spook her purposefully.

It worked the first time, and her mind quickly made up a new decision, "Okay, yep, room full of nightmares." she turned back around. "Definitely do not want to go-"

_**BAM!**_

The door slammed shut with enough force that it seemed to go a bit further than it should of.

"-in there..."

There was a silent but very noticeable giggle. She blew out a deep sigh knowing full well that she had literally walked into that one.

The meter suddenly whirled and flashed, picking up another signal in addition to the others. Immediately Rachel spun around scanning across the room for any spikes that would determine where it was coming from. When she raised it, it spiked. Following it up towards the ceiling, she thought that because of the overhead lights being out, it was mostly a dark color to begin with.

But the ceiling was moving. It whispered, warped, and had shades of red and purple mixed in with a thick black. The meter was spiking heavily in green with the wings rapidly flashing with the center bar topped out as if a finger pointing at the source.

Black Slime, a lot of Black Slime.

Rachel gasped and quickly ducked lower, nearly eye level with the child-sized bookshelves as her flashlight showed there was even more black slime around the room covering most of the entire ceiling she was under and not wanting to be under it any longer than she apparently was towards what looked like a reading nook. The slime went from the ceiling to clinging on the wall around to the corner where a puppet stage was surrounded by little chairs.

The meter flashed again as she got closer, stepping towards the stage as the sounds of several children filled the room. The small circle of chairs and even some scattered books slowly lifting off the ground as the same panda before suddenly appeared from behind the stage and played what she felt was like a lullaby tone.

She stood there, watching and listening as the toy bear seemed to 'dance' with some laughter and cries echoing through the room.

Then as if someone had hit the pause button, the entire room seemed to stop with _everything_ dropping. Chairs, books, and the bar graph all falling to the floor as the sounds seemed to stop altogether, and the meter returns to what it was before.

Not taking her eyes off the stage and backing up just a bit, she reached back for her radio. "Uh... guys, where are you?"

_"I don't know! I'm in some kind of dark tunnel heading towards a bright-OW-" _the radio cut off from Derek's end.

_"I think I'm in the periodic section,"_ Leo replied, "_and I'm pretty sure I'm close to Derek, I just heard one hell of a crash somewhere near-"_

_"BATS!" _Derek yelled.

_"What? Like book bats?" _

_"NO! JUST BATS! THERE'S DOZENS OF THEM!" _Neither Rachel nor Leo decided to comment on the situation Derek was apparently having. Already hearing Derek frantically yelling as there was some strange background noise, they both felt that it was something he could easily handle.

There were at least a good thirty seconds before Leo came back on, _"So what's your status, Rachel?"_

"I'm in the Juvenile section. There is black slime..." she trailed off, glancing back at the ceiling, "almost everywhere in here. Also, getting some strange spikes in here."

_"Hmm..."_ there was another long pause, _"it might be possible that the slime is bringing forth past spiritual energy. Wouldn't rule it out as being the first, but it's possible. Given how this place is almost a hundred twenty years old, its got plenty of history to draw energy from."_

Heading towards the exit door, she reached for the handle, swinging it into a brightly lite staircase, "So what should I do?"

_"Well, depending on what's happening on Derek's end and me without a gun, is it possible for you to stay put and maybe get a thorough scan of the area?"_

Before she could reply and stepped through the doorway, a women's voice came from what sounded like everywhere.

_'Bye!' _

"Yeah, No.," she practically ran down the stairs after hearing that, rounding the corner until she was in a more decorated room.

Glancing around, she found that there was another set of stairs going up. However, the top was blocked off by the front face of a bookshelf pressed up against the door. A quick glance to the left told her where she was now in relation to where she and the others had started.

Special Collections.

A more reserved area with rare and valuable books and the Pke was spiking in its direction. A glance over her should to check and see that her pack was still in Stasis mode she slowly head inside.

Already were the tables and chairs levitating like before, "_Great._ Go from one room of nightmares into another."

Walking past the floating furniture, she headed further into the room. Staying along the left wall away from the bookcases that covered roughly half the space. The meter was spiking higher now than it had this entire time since they first encountered the ghost, and it was making her nervous as hell.

Crossing each aisle, the meter would rise and fall, but didn't spike any higher than 3/4 of the way. When she came to the far end where the room ended with some closed off shelves, Rachel became a bit stumped. There was nowhere else to go, the room and the readings themselves were at a dead end.

"Guys, I'm in Special Collections, and the readings aren't taking me anywhere."

_"Well, we did technically have to make one big loop around this place. Are you sure you're in the right place? Sometimes the readings could be centered on something above or below you."_

"I'm telling you there's nothing-" she stopped herself when her breath became visible. Goosebumps racketed her body as she felt the air suddenly become thinner and cold. The meter itself changed, wings dropping to just slightly raised with a spiking red screen.

A ghost was nearby. The bars were already climbing like it was moving towards her. Then a clock chimed, the ringing seemed to echo off the stone walls as the already dim lights seemed to grow just that level more.

The meter flashed and whirled again, spiking past the midway with both sides spiking the same height. She knew what it meant for her to turn around when the screen showed that. But right now, she really didn't want to.

Shakingly, she reached up. Not to her gun, but back to her radio, "Guys."

There was a momentary crackle, _"What's Up?"_ Derek answered.

"It's here."

_"Where?"_

"Right behind of me," she stressed the words out. Feeling the back of her hair start to stand up.

_"What's your location? Are you still in Special Collections?"_

"Yes."

_"We're coming up to the juvenile section now. We__'ll be there as soon as possible. Can you reach your thrower?"_

Flexing her left hand, she tried to reach down to her pistol, her thumb brushing over the loop that kept it in the holster as she wiggled it free. She wanted to do it as slowly and unnoticeable as possible, but the ghost behind her clearly saw it and wasn't about to let it happen.

In a roar of rage, something that made Rachel immediately, and instantly regrets doing, turned around as she saw it morphed from its human form back into a monstrous state. Its eyes became black pits with its face extending out like a muzzle with dual rows of sharp teeth. Its dress vanishing with its replacement of what could be described as heavily flaked skin and scars with no clear indication of legs except loose tears of would could have been the dress. Its arms became longer and equally damaged, with each hand morphed into claws.

Looking at her straight in the eyes, a brief moment of direct contact between both. Something that Rachel saw in those voids of eye sockets made her instinctively take a step back. But the ghost took the sudden action as the time to strike. It roared like a mixture of human agony, demonic laughter, and grinding stone it as it flew at her with its claws at the ready.

She brought her arms up, doing the best she could to try to protect herself as the ghost came charging at her with its arms out wide. _**"AHHHHHHH!"**_

It was then in a split second that right when the ghost was close enough that it was easy to see through it, Rachel saw two figures step into the room with one firing a dark blue and black coiling stream at the entity.

Then everything went green.

* * *

_Later…_

**_*BANG!*_**

The front doors of the public library slammed open. Nearly cracking the glass as the loud crack made several people exiting or entering the building to stop and look. If it were a cartoon, then people would possibly see smoke pouring out of Rachel Bucker's ears as she stormed down the stairs back to the car through many could see why she was angry, as from her knees up was doused in a palish green mucus that smells like raw fish in a dumpster fire.

Leo was close behind, though his focus was more towards the small samples he kept trying and, at times, successfully getting off his friend. It wasn't typical for one of them to actually get slime in the way it was done in the movies; they had no idea what could happen to either side. He knew Jack was going to have a field day having to clean the equipment, Rachel would probably skin them alive if she was ever put in that type of position again, and yet, in the end, it was another successful day.

Derek was the last one to come out with the administrator with the loaded trap hanging off his belt. "Once again, thank you very much for your help."

He extended a handout, which Derek grabbed, "It's a pleasure. Hopefully, that was the only thing in there." Reaching down into his coat pockets, he brought out his phone and a flip pad. "Now would that be cash, check, or plastic?"

The administrator sighed; this was one part that the group knew people hated the second-most under the actual supernatural threat; the bill. Sure they had the massive collection that they really only used a small chunk to pay everyone; they still felt that they needed a source of income to help get every penny they could get once work on the firehouse started. The man reached out into one of his pockets, producing a brown leather checkbook. With a pen, he wrote out the four-digit cost that would usually make anyone cry.

With a very reluctant tear, he handed Derek the check. Making sure that everything was as it should be, something he to catch when they did start accepting checks quickly, he smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, and have a good day, sir."

He headed back to the car, where Leo was already helping Rachel load in her pack. He slipped the check in front of his phone, taking a picture to have it deposited into their account. He was making a quick note in the pad about the time and date of the amount sent. Satisfied, he finally came up to his friends and was taken back by how forcefully she dropped Leo's pack onto the rack.

Upon seeing him she wanted to say something, but wanted just to get back to the hotel, she glared at him with a look that told Derek he wasn't out of the woods yet because of this. She finally broke off and went around the driver's side of the car, hopping into the passenger seat.

"You know what's gonna happen, right?" Leo asked his friend, as he put away his tools.

"Yep." Derek bluntly said as he started unbuckling his gear.

"Was that the plan, or what did you expect?"

"Say forty percent I thought we would corner her. Fifty-five percent Rachel would have actually gotten here, and the last five, well, really that could've been anything." He shrugged at the last part. It's not like he wanted to piss his girlfriend off by having her be slimed. It was just one of those wrong place at the wrong time situation.

With a good slam of the tailgate, he went around the side, avoiding getting hit by a car, and, while avoiding looking at the pissed off look of what was essentially his team medic, he slid into the driver seat just as Leo closed his door.

"Anything else?" Derek asked.

Leo pulled out his phone, checking for any alert. Thankfully the inbox had no new jobs. He shook his head, "We're clear. Maybe we can end the day early."

There was a small sense of relief in the vehicle. Having days off was a gift in of themselves that the team would take full advantage of it. They were technically divided into shifts; the three of them and Ben would be the usual day shift while the others were on night watch. Though that shift for the past two months has been mostly of Derek running solo with Roger teaching Mike on the go in the truck. Jack and Mike had yet to clarify what the team had officially dub basic training for the two to become full-time members, though Mike was going for a more part-time as to keep himself part of the city's police force.

They knew Roger was probably busy back at the hotel, helping them understand the gear more and teach the Smiths some new things they hadn't gotten to yet. Which meant once they got back, they'll end up doing the same.

Switching the car back on the emergency lights flashed one before quickly going into a slow pulse with no siren. Like a pulled over police car vehicles in the street took somewhat heed, as it was New York after all, and moved a bit out of the way though he made sure to roll down all the windows a fair bit before he pulled them onto the street.

* * *

**So here it is. The really quickly posted sequel that will create a huge chunk of the PGB lore—everything from stories, adventures, new teams, new technology, and more on the eight themselves.**

**This story is called Shadows of the Past as it will literally be that for the coming future. As Broken Reality was meant to establish that our world is no longer the way it was, SotP will bring about the construction of the forthcoming stories that will take the team to a whole new level. (As some stories like the crossover Ghost of the Dragon actually shows where they go from here a few years later.)**

**This story itself, or this note and chapter, was written at the time of when the 21st chapter for Broken Reality was only a few days old after release—as with me, making this now will give me the drive to continue on. However, unlike BR, this story has a lot of things to cover within just a 3-4 year timeline. Due to its nature as BR was built a while back when the crossover was still new, upon releasing it making me have to refine its history a bit more, and that it had several time-jumps, Shadows will be much tighter with its events happening on a weekly to a monthly timeline with roughly a month or two-time gap between shifts with a few skipped during either arch changes or dead zones. These parts can possibly have fuller to build something more to branch out, such as setting up other teams, events, and/or crossovers. These chapters are having the possibility of being added as a #.# chapter that tells of when the events took place between the already established story. These being either posted at the end of the information or having the whole list shift for the room. Because of this, I have yet to develop a full rundown and chapter list. The list being that it helps me break down what will follow in that chapter and see if I can minimize the number of branches into larger ones. (As this story alone is going over 50 chapters at the moment of this writing.) But I do have a fair bit for a start though it will be considerably longer along with its eventual continuation.**

**So this is a bit different compared to what I had envisioned. For one, the story was to take place in 2014 as a '1 Year Later' sort to have the team more established in New York. But after figuring the time, it would take between them buying the firehouse to start renovating it, and construction would be both shorter and more prolonged. Second is that this current form allows for the development of Jack and Mike as they undergo training like what I didn't show Danny and Ben going through.**

**Funny thing though, I didn't know the Roosevelt Hotel was so close to the Public Library when I thought about it.**

**As you can see, the whole first part was a mix between mostly GB1 and two intros, with the library scene a cross between the movie and video game. This kind of referencing is mainly in the case of the team doing what their doing will end up in semi to very familiar situations. The whole library scene is actually a mix of both locations from the first movie of them going there and their encounters with Slimer in the hotel.**

**I got a long road to go on this one now. And I hope you'll enjoy it.**


	2. Testing, Testing, Ouch

**Chapter 2: Testing, Testing, Ouch**

* * *

_Around the same time as the Library, Roosevelt Hotel Roof..._

"HIT THE DECK!" Roger Donny yelled as a stray beam of positively charged particles sliced through the air, where he would have probably been cut in two from just above the stomach though it didn't stop from decimating an entire row of decorative plants from being buzzsaw in half with a little bit of fire in its wake.

The stream cut off abruptly before it reignited again, leaving a bit of a scorch mark across the sidewall for a good 30 feet before cutting out also.

From behind a tipped-over table behind the user, Roger looked around the right edge, "Is it done?"

Jack Wofton, with a helmet strapped tightly to his head, looked over the edge, "I think-" **_*SHZAAPK*_** He quickly retracted back behind the barricade as another rogue stream went out slicing part of the corner. "NO! NO, IT ISN'T!"

"FOR GOD'S SAKES BEN! JUST TURN IT OFF!" Roger yelled out.

"I CAN'T! IT'S STUCK!" Ben Smith, the second youngest of the team, who at the moment was wielding the gun that didn't stop firing, shouted as he tried again to fight the extreme recoil.

It is said that a proton stream is comparable to a wild firehose. In that, if you don't have a sound footing and firm grip, it could get messy pretty fast. But even after you've been used to it, when its a level a bit higher than you're used to, it's bound to overcome you first.

For Ben Smith, however, while it held a firm grip, he was at the moment perfectly demonstrating what a person would look like as a deflating balloon with a laser at the end. At one moment, he ended up hugging the thrower to his chest that made it aim downward right as it triggered again. He could've probably achieved vertical takeoff with how the momentum was slowly building up, but the sound of the alarm sounding ended that.

With a burst of steam, the cores vented, cutting off the stream holding Ben in the air as he collided with the ground.

_"Oww..." _he groaned with his cheek pressed up against the roof.

Without a moment to lose, Jack jumped up from behind the wall and ran over, quickly coming up to the pack as he went to a small keypad mounted over the booster frame and immediately shut down the pack. Letting out a deep sigh of relief as the tone of a power dying down was music to the trio's ears.

Slowly Roger peaked his head out before coming out, "Well... that was a giant fiasco." Ben groaned in agreement.

"Well..." Jack rubbed his cheek, "At least we know that the power divergence didn't explode."

Reaching to the bottom, he unscrewed the massive bolt that was now used to hold the hose in place, this one much beefier than usual has it was a much thicker cable with dozens of wires wrapped around it feeding into the pack or to varies parts. Rolling Ben off to the side just enough to grab the thrower from beneath him, he brought it over to a small trolley he had asked form the janitor staff of the hotel to haul their supplies in.

Placing the thrower on top of a brace that locked it in place, Jack looked over what was, or at least he hoped, was his next big addon to the pack.

Despite still getting used to the equipment over the summer he had been learning under Derek and Leo, mostly the latter as he was being taught the same way Leo was, with his breakthrough with the slime blowers he was tasked with the more '_collateral' _of what was basically a two-person research and development department.

His current project before him, one that he's been in the works with for about four weeks now, consisted of a standard thrower that he a power cell battery mounted just under the main body hooked to what was basically a massive secondary barrel that connected to the unused forward port with a large conductor hanging off the right side. A cylinder roughly big enough to fit a softball was on the left with a rapidly rotating ring of 10 red lights flashing. His goal in mind, as with the dire need of many cables, was to be able to 'split the power' of the proton pack to be able to either achieve double thrower with one serving as a separate module for boson darts or for other modes.

(Would add Ref images but FNN is a butt with links)'

But like all things involving technology that really pushed its limits until it broke something he, like many minds before and to come, couldn't get past the one barrier, power. More specifically, power distribution that could allow two separate modes to be fired at once. From what the fictional lore told them, the other incarnation of the video game pack was the simplistic 'stylized/cartoon' version that had only three modes to the pack, with each one getting its own 'nozzle' to be fired from.

He thought of a similar design, but with the math, he found it wasn't viable as once again, because of the power. He figured maybe to add a mini-cyclotron like Derek's rifle to it, thus a very, _very _tiny unit that could help hopefully in theory.

Good in theory, but in practice...

"You know Jack, I am honestly surprised that that thing didn't explode the moment Ben turned it on," Roger stated as he helped Ben back to his feet.

"Why would it explode?"

"Because most of the new stuff that Leo, and by extension, you, builds usually does when we all least expect it."

"That's not true!" Jack rebutted.

"Oh_?_" Roger said in a 'matter of fact' tone, "What about when you first tried making the slime formula? Or when that Class 2-3, whatever it was, in that poor lady's basement standing still and you ended up hitting the fuse box with a pistol you tried adding a cyclotron to, and wasn't it just three weeks ago that you tried building a grenade and destroyed one of the toilets?"

"It was overheating!"

"And what would that result in."

"An explosive-" Jack immediately shut his mouth upon realizing that he just walked right into Rogers's claim. The pilot, in turn, lightly laughed.

"I rest my case." he then clapped his hands, "It's 40 somewhat degrees out here, we're on top of a giant building, and I'm hungry. Imma gets something to eat. Try and not to destroy anything!" With that, he heads away from the 'testing area' back to their rooms.

Feeling a little peeved, Jack went on and yanked the bottom plate of the thrower as he tried clearing his mind and focus on not messing anything up. But just as he goes to work, he sees out of the corner of his eye Ben place the proton pack against the wall next to him and starts to leave."

"Stay here." He said, glancing at the Smith then back to his work.

"Wwwwhy?" Ben stopped mid-step, looking around slightly in thinking to change his direction. He honestly didn't want to be here, to begin with, he was just roped into this when Jack grabbed him on his way out, told him to put on a pack and meet him on the roof.

That was almost an hour ago. And now he was getting a bit peeved himself that he wasn't on the other side of the river helping his brother in the shop. True, he liked to use dangerous stuff (some noting that he'd probably become the test-dummy for all the new hardware they build), but he enjoyed working with Danny more than being a ragdoll.

"You're..." Jack tried to think of something, Ben, while not the sharpest tool in the shed compared to everyone else, still had enough matter in his skull to know when to either think it was acceptable or just ignore it.

After a quick shuffling of thoughts, something did click, "you're... my... tech assistant! I need someone to help man this stuff while I make the changes."

Ben took a step forward but turn to him, "And that means...?"

"It means that as we test this stuff, I need your feedback on how it reacts." Jack looked up to see if Ben got the idea. The look on the Smith's face told him it more or less flew over his head.

"_*sigh*_ It means you basically see what is working or not."

"Question."

"What?"

Ben raised a finger, pointing behind Jack, "Is that suppose to do that?"

* * *

Down below on the street, the Ecto-X slowly pulled into its spot behind Ecto-3 on the side of the hotel. From pulling up, the trio could see a group of maybe six people all taking turns posing with a selfie-stick taking pictures of the side of the vehicle. Even when they started getting out, the group looked over, held the stick even higher, and took pictures.

"Bet they're having the time of their life," Derek remarked as he stepped out.

"They probably have a better day than we are," Rachel remarked as she combed her hair again, finding more ectoplasmic residue that gave her glove a greasy green look—sighing as she wiped a bit of it on the side of the car.

"Well, look on the bright side," Leo said as he popped out. Taking a finger swipe of the slime, "At least nothing's exploded so far to-"

_***CRA-THOOMM***_

In a flash that the average person would think that the building was just struck by lightning, the trio blinked away the haze in their eyes as they glanced up the building to see a small pillar of smoke rising from the roof.

"Leo..."

"Hey, you can't blame me this time. I was with you and at the library, all day and nothing blew up there."

* * *

**A lot shorter than I wanted to as it would have involved what Danny and Mike were up to, I felt it wouldn't fit the flow of events here and figured that the next chapter would be better suited for their parts.**

**With my Caretaker story finished and that this is now getting the second chapter out of what projects I hope to do will take a collective 11 years to complete... I wanted to get back to my usual. This chapter, along with the next, will mostly be about how the team is doing now that they've unofficially moved to New York. It'll be around Chapter 6 when the story really gets the future rolling.**

**Another part to add is how complex their technology and equipment are going to get. At first, it was what was basically the 2009 Video Game gear with some more slap together stuff given how, in this, its still a _very _young technology, and as time goes on, especially in this story, it will become more and more advance and complex. **

**Its the situation that whenever I see an official or custom fan-made piece, I feel that its something the PGB would build into their arsenal that is either a side branch or a step in the tech's evolution.**

**Side note: currently tr****ying to find more 'sound effects' for stuff and presently combing through the IDW comics to mine from.**

**Plus, with Ghostbusters 3: Afterlife now inching ever closer to us, I'm going to pull a lot of ideas from that new material as well.**


	3. Gears, Guns, Gadgets

Chapter 3: Gears, Guns, Gadgets

* * *

**AN: 1:06 6/4/20: At the time of this writing, this chapter only has 25 words. But when I suddenly realized what day it was in 4 days, I decided that weeks ago was the time to write this. **

**Happy 36th Anniversary, Ghostbusters**

* * *

_Parker and Phill's Oil Refinery, Around the same time..._

Across on the other side of the river in Brooklyn, in the very same warehouse where Jack had blown up a puddle of slime in the name of science. Danny Smith was chest-deep into the engine bay of the Ecto-1A with a tool kit to his left and a light dangling down as he tried getting a somewhat rusty bolt out with a socket.

_"Come on, you piece of shit move..." _He gave a little more strength to the tool, trying to force it to loosen. He was more or less on the verge of bending the machine or striping the socket itself at the rate he was going.

"_Come on... come to on-_GAH!" the wrench slipped away from the bolt, sending his thumb into part of the engine at an odd angle as he smashed the top of it.

"Sonoffu-" He tried nursing the sudden jolt of the pain away by sticking it in his mouth. Though after a little taste of dirt and rust, he quickly went just to shake it to air cool.

While it was far from the first time he's smashed his thumb working on a car even as broken down as the Cadillac, it was the combination of it being still mostly kept together and being old that was making his life a nightmare.

Six months since they got this sixty-year-old shit wagon, in his personal opinion, was mostly devoted to him trying to get it _anywhere _into what Derek and Leo had envisioned it.

He and Ben, whenever they haven't pulled away for jobs or just to do something else as a bit of change, is pace; had pretty much stripped the car down to the basics. The doors were all taken off and placed in a corner covered by the hood, every window except for the windshield was stored in a two-foot tower of thick foam. The chrome was sitting in a box, and everything that was the actual interior save for the dashboard was now sitting in a dumpster somewhere.

The front was pretty much a giant hole where he stood with most of the engine and transmission already sitting about twelve feet to his right with a fine layer of dust and rust chips coating the floor. A box under a bench was filled with a spaghetti of wiring that he had ripped out of everything. The only thing that was overall left intact was everything that belonged on the roof with it all hitting on the rack in the corner next to the wheels.

Some of that stuff like the lights and the rack itself he knew Derek would want to keep and restore, but for everything like the prop sensors, the dish, and most of the car was being trashed.

If he had to guess, while he's on to try and save parts from easing up cost and time building things, they were probably getting rid of 70% of this vehicle. Eventually, when they had the money, the body itself will be chopped in dozens of places to make room for structural upgrades.

But that was the most significant issue Danny had for this, _money._

Restoring the vehicle to just its movie function would easily be nearly 100k plus depending on what had to be bought and what could be saved. Doing the same and adding their actual equipment that Ecto-X has since it literally uses the same set up minus the vehicle could easily tack on another five thousand.

But _**this **_he felt was being done in a way that would easily double, and if what they were planning, triple the cost and time in getting this rust bucket even sitting on wheels again. Sure, a good chunk he could do; it helps when you work with your brother with your father that's a car junky for years. He could do the needed changes (though some he knew was currently way out of his league) if he had an actual place to work and not a damn warehouse.

Mulling over the thought, he looked back to the bolt that had just eaten roughly eight minutes of his life, "Alright, you little bastard. You asked for it."

Turning around, he headed towards his blow torch, fully intent on making the rusty bit of metal no longer be part of the vehicle.

* * *

_Rodman's Neck Firing Range..._

At a peninsula of land somewhere in the Bronx sat the 54-acre NYPD Firing Range that served as a training ground for the city's police, military, FBI and many more along with dealing with explosives at one area simply dubbed 'The Pit' to an area fitted to simulate an urban environment, the land is a hotbed where anyone nearby will quickly realize that any hope of trying to tone down the level of gunfire and explosions that place makes would be all in vain.

In one of the two hundred thirty different firing spots, Mike Dock stood at one stall with about twelve others with him. With a pair of earmuffs to help block out the heavy sound of gunfire around him, he held his hand above his holster that now housed his new Glock 19 Generation 4 sidearm with a fifteen round magazine inside and ready to go.

Looking down at his target, a big white sheet with a silhouette they call 'The Thug' with various targets marked on the body. He was quietly counting down from ten where once he reached three, he firmly grasped his gun, and upon entering one had it already pulled, leveled, and stared down the sight as he pulled the trigger.

_***BANG******BANG******BANG*-**_

In rapid succession, Mike kept on the firing to where the area around the chest was quickly being given new holes that reveal a concrete wall behind it.

_**-*BANG******BANG***_***click***

Mike ceased his fire when all fifteen rounds were spent. Glancing at his watch, he let out a little smirk how he had shaved off nearly 1.3 seconds from his usual time.

Ejecting the spent clip, he reached down to the table in front of him to grab a fresh one before feeling nothing but the padding. A glance down revealed that instead of a ready to go clip to slap right back in he was met with six entirely empty magazines.

"Damn... really got into it again."

"You don't say." Sergeant Baxter came up to him with an equipment bag hung over his shoulder. "I feel that at this rate, you're gonna be the one that makes us have to give you or own little reserve." He chuckled.

Mike chuckled as well. It was hard for anyone to really argue against him on the firing range when it involved handheld weaponry. He excelled when he was first training to be an officer so much so that they felt he belonged more to the select units or even SWAT with how his aim was.

Some would joke that he was part Terminator with a computer to help him aim, some say that even recent events he was possessed by the spirit of a hunter like Ben Lilly or Teddy Roosevelt himself. Others compared him to Bert Gummer from the Tremors movies, and this was one that could agree more if he ever invited you to his home to fire a 'few' rounds.

"So hows life been after volunteering to work with self-made celebrities?" Baxter asked with curiosity. It wasn't every day that one of your co-workers/buddies suddenly go from average day (maybe above average) city cop to being part of a team that up until almost two years ago suddenly be one of their newest recruits.

Plus, it was a subject he did try to keep separate from this side of life. Thinking back to his encounter with Derek on the Brooklyn Bridge, he felt it was cliche to the highest levels that made him act like a dumbass in traffic. He wasn't going to let that go, oh no, but he tucked it away for now.

"To put it all in the simplest context, they're doomed." He bluntly said with a straight face.

Baxter wasn't that completely put off by Docks' answer. Him being this blunt usually meant that it was just more frustration to add to the plate.

"That bad, huh?"

"Mmmhmmm."

"Explain."

"Lack of function."

To some, this would be a bit confusing. To Mike, it perfectly summed up what his times with the team for the past four months had taught him. Derek was too young, even to be doing what he was doing. If he had just turned 19 this year and was a brand-spanking-new recruit to a pre-established team, he could accept that. But he acts like he was more or less obligated to do this no matter what.

Rachel and Leo, he felt, were a bit of a yin and yang. Rachel wanted to help people and was learning to be a doctor; Mike respected that. That was the kind of learning a team needed. Given their size, he could see how they even managed to finish high school while still being here though it was dragging her learning. Leo, on the other hand, seemed to be just _fascinated _by everything he and Derek could cook up. He was a planner, someone that looks into this as much as he could.

The Smiths, good god the Smiths... If they were even in police training, they would have failed the written test for just getting in the academy.

Roger, he felt, was more the air force equivalent of himself (though how he knew how to fly as he does at 23 startles him sometimes) and was more on the supportive role—looking more for a job that he enjoyed than something more practical. And Jack was a big turn around from what he was meeting them to now. Sure he was a bit active here and there, but it was clear how much toned down he had become. Mike was sure he was still working at the refinery as a technician, but from what he's heard, that's been an on and off experience now.

"In short, they all had their roles and purposes; they just lacked a solid foundation to operate in. They act more like friends getting together to do something when it comes to dealing with actual calls. Sure, you get those times when they truly work well, some just don't ping together right."

"You think if they went through actual training, it would help?"

Mike nodded, "Oh, it would _extremely _help them. The problem is how the hell do you train someone that acts both like a firefighter and FBI agent that hunts the paranormal."

Baxter looked to the ground pondering that thought. In all reality, how the hell do you train something like that? From what the movies showed, they just apparently knew how and did it. In some, they actually do train others on how to use it. But with this, they're most experienced already has close to two years under his belt and has pretty much taught them himself despite having no real training of any kind.

While thinking this over, Baxter looked around as if the answer would somehow materialize. Strangely enough, his gaze fell upon Mike's to Mike's equipment bag was a black box that took up a good chunk of space.

"Whatcha got there?"

"Hehe, you're gonna love this." Docks sarcastically said as he raised the case out of his bag, "A 'training pack' from my oh so new _team._"

It was a carrying case similar to those you would expect a marching band to hold a mean piece of brass in but this was a bit different in how it had a much more aggressive look in how it was covered with more metal, a beefier lock, and had caution striping everywhere. With a quick pop of both latches, he opened the case to be greeted by a rather lovely set up of two proton pistol, both left, and right-handed units, along with four power cell batteries, a utility belt with holsters, and a pair of black ecto-goggles that looked brand new and were just awaiting paint tightly packed into a foam interior.

By now, several other officers that were in the range started to gather around and examine the weapons themselves. Many of them agree on how they literally looked like toy props you would find at comic cons for high prices. The only real difference being that these guns had clearly seen some fighting with how scratched up the paint was and how it was clear where some areas were newer than others.

Taking a grip of the right pistol, he pulled it out and went on to examine it much closer. Lacking the power cell that gave it any power he did, against any better judgment, take a little peek down the barrel into the interior before going on the rest of his inspection. He was given the basic run down and process of setting up the controls. Between the necessary powerup, safety, and trigger, he found that the top dial did sometimes throw a bit of a curveball in how it, along with a side dial, controlled how random or powerful the gun was.

Snatching a battery, he made sure to follow the yellow arrow and inject it into the handle much like he would any other handgun nowadays. There was a loud snap of it, locking in place and a quiet and quick hum before Mike flipped on the power.

The top vent suddenly flashed to life in bright white light as an orange hat light started flickering. It wasn't much of a display due to its size, but in Mike's hand, he could feel the gun softly vibrate for a moment after he threw the switch. Much like how a game controlled would tremble as a bit of a warm-up.

"She purrs." One commented on how the start-up seemed to last a bit longer till it faded.

Running his fingers across the grip, Mike turned at stood looking back down the firing range. A new paper target was already being moved into position as practically everyone in the room was now focused on him.

"Now, let's see her bite."

He got into his usual firing stance with the pistol in the same position his general firearm was and took in a deep breath. Silently counting to three until he whipped it back up, aimed at the target, and squeezed the trigger.

_***SHZZZZAKKKK***_

In a burst of orange light, a small proton stream erupted from the barrel. Mike had only held the trigger for possibly four times as long as he would for a gun, but that was simply because of how much time would be needed for an excellent stream to pop out, or it would just fizzle out.

What he got was a proton stream roughly six feet long end to end, flying through the air towards the center target. He knew that aiming for the head would be pointless, and given how the stream can be random in nature, it's better to go for the broad center of mass. Being a low yield resulted in the beam punching a hole big enough to fit your arm all the way to the should before dispersing across the wall behind it.

He was a bit taken by how the recoil seemed to be more like a stable force other than how semi or automatics jolt after each shot. Given its size and from what he could remember from the others was that this configuration was meant to be something more or less to pick off weak targets or get their attention. So it would stand as the negative force behind it was a bit different than his usual firearms.

In all honesty, it did feel like your average pistol if it had somehow been converted into a fully automatic handgun. The recoil was tamer than he thought (though he knew that with it connect to a pack, it would significantly increase).

With a little thought and hum, he placed the gun down and reached for the other one. Setting it up the same as the other as he moved to the stall to the right of him that had a complete target present. The feeling is fingers run over both pistols, Mike gave his usual count before drawing back the right gun and brought the left more forward. Doing the same as he did before with quick burst shots. Firing the left for just long enough to get an excellent beam out before quickly swapping back to the right and doing the same.

Without pausing, Mike fired back and forth from each gun, with one kicking on the very moment he retracted the other. The target itself at this point was gradually being shredded upwards until Mike had both raised and, in a bit of an odd move even for himself, brought both together and fired a continuous stream across the range that completely destroyed the target.

"Damn." Baxter said, impressed by the display, "I'm surprised they didn't give you a bigger gun. Knowing you and your collection."

Mike wanted to rebut about the last part of that comment but knew that with Baxter, that was a lost war.

"This feels more natural to me," he emphasized this by spinning the left gun around his thumb like a revolver. He gave it six spins before locking it back in a solid grip with a genuine grin forming over with thoughts on how this could really step up his game.

* * *

_Back at the Roosevelt..._

Upon the elevator dinging, the trio quickly hustled down the hallway towards their rooms. Arriving at the makeshift door that looked almost brand new now as the original sat leaning against the wall with a large hole in the center and scorch marks around the edges. Swiftly ripping the door open, they were greeted to the now-familiar sight of a cluttered, messy hallway and four doors wide open to rooms that had now almost equal levels of 'controlled' chaos.

What was called now the 'Spook Safe' was in somewhat better shape than it was when they started. Though if you took away the fact that 3 of the walls were now lined with shelves of trap cartridges filled to capacity looked away in metal containers heavily coated with positive slime to help contain any possible leaks. Where the bed once was was now a workbench with their original safe underneath that held an assortment of empty trap units waiting to get new cartridges.

Across the hall to their lab, the room, inputting into the mentality for ordinary people, was wrecked. They had now opted to altogether remove the beds that were previously there for more shelving that held parts and various pieces of equipment in different stages of development. The main room that had the computers and main work table was surrounded by parts, boxes, cables, papers strewn about or pinned to the wall, and so much more. The only part that looked fine was the bathroom, but looking inside, one would question the state of 3 jumpsuits hanging in the shower.

To them, it was more of an organized chaos situation. Most things were in places that if you didn't know where you had put it, it was lost forever if it was moved at all. Hell, asking for something as small as a paper clip, and someone could point to one on the floor next to the table leg.

At the said table was a downcasted Jackson staring at the obliterated remains of his test thrower. Where the 'cores' had initially been was nothing but a blown-out hole with the rear handle just barely holding onto the body. The second barrel was almost completely ripped off, having only be held on by a twist tie to the main stem with the side having been snapped open, revealing the internal wiring.

The thrower itself seemed like a complete loss, provided that they do buy third party parts consisting of strong aluminum throwers and pack shells that they modify to their needs; it was still expensive to get replacements.

Entering the room and seeing Jack like this, the team waited for any sign of him acknowledging their presence. Only just staring at the destroyed gun with disappointment, frustration, sadness, and a bit of curiosity thrown into that soup. He stared at the object as if trying to use his mind to suddenly tear it apart and put it back together after finally finding the solution.

But feeling as though that would only give him a headache Leo was the first to speak, "So-"

Jack held up a finger for silence. Closing his eyes as he took in a deep breath to collect his thoughts.

"Whatever we use for the electromagnets in the throwers are _NOT, _and I say this with all my heart and soul, designed to handle the double split output. The PPD," he held up a what looked like a destroyed oversized shotgun shell, but in fact, was the small unit that was usually connected to the side of the booster tube base. "Went out the moment Ben turned the damn thing one. It was like a dam that once it's open, it doesn't stop until something else does."

He then picked up a piece of the N-Filter that seemed to have been snapped off, "The oscillator in the filter, and by extension, the filter was on the brink of complete failure, and the negative-D side of the cyclotron didn't properly vent. The strike pad in the housing is shot, the hydrogen is practically gone, and that is just the basics of the laundry list of things that happened."

"That and it nearly made Ben go airborne," Roger piped in, leaning around from the doorway.

"The power output needed to sustain two streams, let alone two possible individual modes is something that this equipment isn't built for. The rifle and pistols are expectations because they have their units built as their design. But in modifying our existing throwers at the moment is nearly impossible."

"Is it salvageable?" Derek asked as Leo headed around to the workbench to examine the disassembled pack. Moving parts aside and checking the ends of wires and shaking his head.

"For the most part, yes. Depending on what else needs it. But from what I'm seeing, it's going to take some time, especially in getting the thrower back up."

_"Thank god it didn't go into meltdown..."_ Jack muttered as he took a gulp from a water bottle.

"Now that I think about it, how did you get this nuclear stuff without the government knowing?" Roger's question suddenly made everyone pause for a moment to think it over, then turning to look at their leader.

Derek, feeling a bit taken back, just shrugged, "We lived near a massive junkyard that pretty much served as part of the town dump. You'd be surprised what you can find with just a Geiger counter and after winning the lottery."

"So, you basically went the same route as the nuclear boy scout?"

"Pretty much."

"So what the hell was the lightning for?"

"To get the system up to a sustainable charge. It takes a lot actually to keep the thing going."

There was a bit of a pause in the air as everyone just stared at him as he had only grown a second head. Leo even muttered and swore under his breath to make sure that the cores are sealed twice as tight as they are now and to make sure to get everyone test.

Feeling that the topic went further off track than expected, Jack returned to his previous statement, "As I said, with how everything is right now, I think we _could _achieve something like an actual multi-mode thrower. For the most part, right now, we can work with the Slime Blowers given how they just need power for the compressor, and the same could be said for the pistols since they have their own cells. But right now..."

"We just don't have the funding to really do anything except what we have been now." Leo summed it up to Jack's agreement.

"Thirty million for the whole block, another say, million or two for the demolition of the area and making sure the building is still standing. Upgrades and repairs alone are another seven-plus easily, not to mention foundation modifications and extensions. That all could easily run us up another forty easily. Roughly fourteen for the containment unit alone, couple thousand for furniture and food, another million to keep the names and logo, and about six million for our reach and development." Derek listed off each thing off his fingers, knowing there were several things he forgot to add.

"And our current finances...?" Rachel asked a bit drained at the hearing just how much this job would cost them.

"You ever heard of cash flow?" Leo asked back, to which she shrugged, "Well... ours is a glacier. A _small _glacier. And at the current rate, we're going; it'll take us easily eleven and a half years to even remotely cut away a third of that total amount. Depending on if anything else decides to come our way."

_*sigh* _"Given how that's the seventh time we've blown up this place from equipment failure, I feel that management is about to say screw it and give us the boot."

While getting out of the hotel was a high priority for their list, they really didn't have anywhere else to go. According to their financial records, they were _just _keeping themselves in the black at the current rate they've been bustling around New York. But in addition to having to make sure everyone was paid, maintenance, parts, fuel and food, the occasional payout when a property gets a bit more damage than they wish, and the firehouse were all factors trying to weigh down their ship.

The latter of which had Derek thinking back to his lofty purchase. Just like when he had first built this gear, he felt something was off but yet still felt the same. For the price he got for what was basically a whole 'block' in one of Manhattan's best areas for a start-up business, he felt it was still overwhelming that they got the original firehouse. Something that while would eventually solve their housing problem, he and everyone else knew that dream was still at this rate years away.

* * *

**AN: 6/5/20 ****12:10 AM****: So in the time between now and when I first started writing anything Ghostbusters, I was still trying to piece together how the hell the equipment worked. Years of looking didn't help.**

**Until literally back on April 28, the YouTuber Channels spirits released a _very _detailed and helpful video about how the pack works on the nuclear level. Some parts of it made me realize it wouldn't function with how the Game Pack works (such as the Booster Tube/Slime Resivoir actually being the fuel rod for the nuclear material to power the pack) but yet some parts seem straight forward for what can and can't function as both.**

**The same applies to both its thrower and another video regarding how the Ghost Trap works, so for here on out, I plan to _hopefully _maintain this as a consistent theme for the equipment for the future.**

**A reason this doesn't really have much ghostbusting at all is mostly because of my desire to make sure everything from all stories can be tied together as tightly as possible. To where the team is right now trying to figure out how to further their technology will play slowly in the future and so on.**

**6/7/20 2:13 AM: At the time of this note, I have just finished Danny's part. In of itself, it really only shows what he's been up to in recent times and just further adds to the overall situation the GB are falling into.**

**6/8/20 11:28 PM: Its Ghostbusters Day (despite it being technically postponed because the world being fucked) and I managed to get this done and out. **

**Mike, in all of the PGB, is one of the most experienced and the best shot in the team. His methods go more on the lines of how Winston in the comics uses the pistol over his main thrower, or sometimes as his primary. The techniques he used here is based on the same you do in the mobile game Into the Dead 2 with Duel Proton Pistols.**


	4. Winding Down

Chapter 4: Winding Down

* * *

**I'm stuck in the limbo of just talking out my story to myself, having the immediate inspiration to write it down, but at the time not being able to, and eventually, it's lost.**

* * *

_Sometime later..._

_November 23, 2013, _

_The Firehouse..._

Ah, the firehouse. Hook and Ladder 8. A place that was initially twice its size before the street made it have to be cut literally in half.

From the outside, most new yorkers knew about its fame or just didn't care much about driving past it. For others, it was always something to stop by and get a picture in front of when visiting. The building itself showed its age with its faded red brick and stone needing a good cleaning. Even the massive front door required a beautiful fresh coat with the ghost logos on the sidewalk needing to be redone. But there was one thing outside that made many smiles and just want even more pictures off.

Hanging above the door with two chains was half of what was the Ghostbusters 2 logo sign swaying gently in the occasional breeze with a smaller but more noticeable sign below reading 'Operations Coming Soon!' in the GB style format. Hell, one vendor that had newspapers even had a generic picture of the station with the sign of the operation under it that read 'Ghostbusting the Original Way! Famed team of real-world supernatural hunters preparing to permanently set up shop in the Big Apple at the original Ghostbusters headquarters seen in the 80s movies.'

There was more to the article than just that, but that was it in a nutshell. And being a few days old and left on the curb told a bit how it was already old news. Though while the outside of the station practically remained the same, on the inside, it was a bit different story.

In the middle of where the fire truck would usually be was a giant industrial dumpster sitting in the middle of the room nearly half loaded with everything shoved towards the back to allow some more room inside where the doors were. The sound of a power saw could be heard above before it abruptly stopped, and a metal pipe came down one of the firepoles just narrowly missing the dumpster. Some shuffling followed, and soon after, the saw was at it once again.

Above on the next floor, Derek was busy cutting away at the structure that made up a small part of a room. What room was it? He didn't know. It was just the skeleton since they first saw it. Most of the walls had been stripped away along with most to all the wiring, depending on where you looked. They had an electric generator to supply power, but given how much stuff they were using it was and having a few space heaters around the place to where they won't start a fire was making it a hazard to work in.

Though when it's only 45 degrees in the middle of November, what do you expect?

Feeling that he had made some good progress in cutting down the wall and that his arm was hurting for holding up the saw for so long, Derek felt that after a good four hours of cutting, it was time for a break.

Placing the saw down on a makeshift workbench that was mostly a stand with a sheet of plywood going around to a pallet of more wood, Derek headed towards the front of the building where the windows overlooked the street. In addition to that, a power cord leading from the generator was a small mini-fridge he had brought for just this occasion along with a TV dinner stand and a foldable chair.

Fetching a drink, he plopped down in the seat with a small dust cloud poofing up around him and sighing as he leaned back and took a long sip before shifting to look out at the street. While rush hour had yet to be reached, the roads were already busy with people doing their last-minute errands before Thanksgiving, and already he could see some stories preparing for Black Friday in three days.

Hell, the only reason that he had the time now to stop by and get some more work done to the place was more for the fact that activity had once again reached a record low. Not as low as last year, but a distinct second as he figured the mood of the holiday season was a bit more potent in New York than Pittsburgh, given its size.

With it, their library bust being the 'largest' they had in a month (once again a strange thing gave how they were preparing for an active Halloween. Though it was more of a treat going around New York and seeing the smiles on people's faces when you drove by with the siren) and comparing to last year, the rest of the month and December would be their dead zones inactivity.

While this did hurt their financial aspect, it gave them some much-needed breathing room to relax truly. Given how the holiday season was turning up, the team felt it would be best to go on and visit family for the time. The Smiths and Roger had already headed back to Pennsylvania two days ago, taking the Smith's truck and leaving Ecto-3 in storage.

Jack and Leo were making some final prep work on the equipment at the hotel to make sure everything would be fine until they came back. Jack had volunteered to stay and watch over most of the stuff since he only lived an hour outside the city. Derek himself and Rachel, along with Leo, would take Ecto-X and head home too early tomorrow to get home in time for Thanksgiving. Mike pretty much was pulled back more into his police duty as he was one of the many NYPD to be preparing for Black Friday and the Macy's Parade.

That very last part made Derek think about their situation again; given their popularity, they had been offered a _small _place in the annual parade. The plan was to mostly have the Smiths drive the cars in order, given how they wouldn't complain about being in the heat when its 40 degrees out, with the team in gear, just walking along. Nothing too major, but it more or less was more free advertisement when the nation watched you march down the street.

But given how they hadn't heard from Sony about anything in regards to it, it seemed less likely.

They had to be fast with this one. With the holiday and parade back to back with a six-hour drive between Pittsburgh to New York would be hell in of itself. Then having to prepare for the show and just doing that. (Though on the plus side it would help them burn off any extra fat they got from the feast.) Though even if they didn't directly participate, they would still be present as an added layer of security.

After that, it would be back to work in catching up with any calls they might have gotten or get at the time. They did have a planned investigation of the Sea Bear in early to mid-December so that they could finally get to the location where the oil company had found the black slime (though they would have gotten there sooner but red tape got in the way.)

And the firehouse; Derek looked around the place to see what was done and needed to be. With their plans to expand the entire building into the block, they had decided on this area of the floor to be split between a public lab where they would bring clients to run tests with the part closer to the front being a more private lab with the upstairs being their oversized living room with a rec area, kitchen and dining area. Glancing to the corner across from, he could already see where they planned to add a small freight elevator to help move stuff in and out.

But in reality, he, everyone and their mother knew that the building wasn't going to be one hundred percent accurate to each other. In all, the building would fit more to what the 2009 video game did, but that was stretching it too see how much room they really could get. Compared to the original interior of the firehouse belonged to the Engine 23 station in Los Angeles that was nearly double the length of the Hook 8, it was the matter of compacting it to be visually the same and yet more functional to their needs.

Though deep down, Derek knew it could work. Just with enough money and time as all things nowadays are, they can get there.

He went to take another drink when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. Fishing it out, he found his screen with a picture of Rachel giving him a soft smile while sitting in Ecto-3; what he remembered was a Sonic drive-in.

With a swipe, he answered, " 'Ello, govna. How are you?"

_"Where are you!? Do you know what time it is?!"_

Taken back a bit by her sudden outburst, Derek took a moment to pause and raise his left arm to check his watch.

4:56.

He felt a knot form within as his eyes went wide with realization, "Oh..."

_"Oh... INDEED. We've finished packing and are getting ready to leave now. Leo's already out and has your case and gear waiting downstairs in the lobby."_

Fumbling out his chair, he quickly started doing swift work, "Yea-yeah, I got it. I'll be there in about... twenty minutes?" He mentally tried to promptly think of the shortest route from here to the hotel. All signs were pointing to just blasting up 6th Avenue like he usually did if traffic wasn't too bad.

_"You have fifteen." _The call ended, and at that moment, Derek sprang into action.

As fast as he could, he gathered his tools and placed them in their respective places that he knew would (hopefully) be there once they got back. He disconnected and turned off the generator and shoved it under the workbench after tossing a small cloth tarp over it to keep it a bit more insulated from the cold.

With little heed, he folded his chair and chucked it into the corner where by only friction did its odd angle stop it from just falling to the ground. Looking around for everything, he made sure to have everything, but then looked back to his mini-fridge. Pulling the door open, he still had four 20 ounce bottles left inside along with the one he was just drinking on top of it.

For some, it would be just a case of leaving them there for later since three days aren't much time. But for Derek, it would be a personal sin to abandon such items in these times. Quickly snatching them all in his arms as tight as he could, he ran to the nearest fire pole and slid down.

Only to nearly smash into the dumpster directly below him.

"Oh shit." He tightened his grip around the pole to where he stopped his descent—using his boots and a little wiggle to turn himself to the left to where he would mostly avoid the container.

Dashing around Ecto-X, he fumbled the keys in his hand for a moment before getting the car unlocked and carefully placing his drinks on the passenger seat. Getting the engine going to get the heater going, he dashed over to the garage door controls and hit the switch. Waiting for the agonizing minute as the door slowly reached the top of the ceiling with a heavy clank.

Then in a move that many people do to close the garage door behind him, he hit the switch again as the door began descending. Quickly jumping into the car, he immediately moved passed the door before it could hit his gate as he turned onto North Moore.

Flipping the control switches, he started up the siren and roof lights as he made a sharp turn onto the 6th and gunned it towards the hotel.

* * *

_14 Minutes Later..._

Standing idly in front of the Roosevelt Hotel, Rachel stared at her phone screen, checking any notifications she had recently while trying to stay warm when the temperate continued to drop. Leo was already beside her, making sure the ludicrous amount of luggage and bags, equipment, and Derek's motorcycle were all tightly strapped down for the upcoming trip. While one would say, it was a bit much to take, after several repeats of times when not taking anything cause problems, it was better to be safe than sorry.

And personally, it gave him an excuse to stay in the slightly warmer confines of the trailer.

Meanwhile, Rachel was more dressed to brave a winter storm with a massive black coat and winter cap doing their best to keep her warm.

Just then, the familiar sound echoed down the streets as a flash of amber light, and a blaring siren came around the corner and weaved its way between traffic before coming to a screeching halt just in front of the trailer. Killing the siren, Derek quickly jumped out and headed around to the back, popping the trunk.

"I know I lost track of time. I was just a bit distracting-" he tried to explain as he loaded up the pile of bags. Rachel, however, simply handed him her case and stuffed it onto the rear gurney.

"You got lucky. It was 14 minutes." She said and, without another word, hopped into the passenger seat to get the full brunt of the heater.

Feeling that the fire didn't need any more stoking, he went on helping Leo load the rest of the cases. Though while they each at a suitcase full of clothes to last for four days with a spare, the number of _cargo _cases Leo had on a trolley was a bit strange.

Before Derek could even ask Leo popped open one to reveal a standard proton pack surrounded by foam filler with what he could tell was probably a second one stacked below it. "Just in case. I got us two mainlines, and the other is full of three sets of each trap along with your guns and some stuff I can work on in my free time."

With a heave, the two brought up the case and placed it on the gurney. One would ask, "Why not just place the packs on the gurney that's meant to hold them?", it was simple for extra safety measures when traveling long distances, thus why all the gear was in a separate trailer when they first came here.

Though with everything loaded and Leo had to put the seat behind Derek's down to have room for his suitcase and laptop bag, Derek headed back around, hoping back into the driver seat. Giving himself a moment to warm up and get his seat belt, he adjusted himself to a comfortable position.

"So, any suggestions on the best route?"

"I'd say we take 95 and head south, he can then go onto 76 from there," Leo suggests while looking at a map from his laptop.

Rachel glanced back at him with a disgruntled look, "Are you crazy? That could take us another hour." She looked to Derek, "Just take 78 till we hit 81 then 76. It'll still take us to Pittsburgh and save us time if traffic isn't bad getting out of here."

With a quick search on his phone, Derek brought up Google Maps to Rachel's route. Giving it a moment to locate them, it plotted out their next 6 hours. Clipping it to the dashboard via a phone holder, Derek checked to make sure he was clear to pull out before easing back onto the street.

"Right, lets head home. I'm ready for that turkey."

* * *

For the next 6 hours, the trio made a somewhat decent time.

Their blunder of the day was the thing that they all agreed on Rachel jinx, as traffic getting out of the city ended up eating nearly another hour into the drive. Once they got onto Interstate 78, it was much smoother sailing.

Eventually, around 8:30, Leo offered to switch places and drive the rest of the way. Something Derek agreed with since some time ago a wannabe brake tester tried during such text to them with Derek having turned the lights and siren on them. Either thinking it was a cop of some kind, the car ended up switching lanes and racing away.

Oddly enough 30 miles ahead of them, they saw the same car pulled over by a police cruiser. Justice served, they all thought.

Once they hit Breezewood for food and fuel, it was smoothing sailing till they beat Pittsburgh for the final stretch.

It was already past 11 by the time they rolled into the town limits, and just like any place before, it was mostly empty with the occasional truck passing through. Driving through town, one could see the little forms of light snow falling in the street lights while giving a bank had its sign boldly display the ass-numbing temperature of 21 degrees. It was at this point that they had the heater working overtime and had resulted in getting their thicker coats from their cases.

The first to get dropped off was Leo, who had the most bags and probably had stuff to keep himself busy until they went back. When pulling up to his house, Derek had to back the car almost to the front door for Leo to quickly jump in and out with the stuff, greet his parents who at the same time were happy of his return and confused by his luggage, making his farewell and heading in.

Then, after hustling it across town towards the denser areas to the north where the local college was, the GMC slowly pulled a street that curved around a hill with houses lining one side and other being a park area that leads down to the campus. The place was mostly devoid of any life with some snow covering the ground with the various street lights and homes providing the only real light sources.

Soon the car came up to a woods brown split level home that had its driveway packed with vehicles, and even at this time of night, there were some sounds of entertainment going on inside. Coming to a stop at the end of the driveway with as much of the car off the road as possible, the teens looked up when they where a wave of cheers come from within.

"Seems like they're having some early fun."

"My cousins are probably in there already." Rachel mused over what they were doing but dashed that thought away.

"Yeah." Putting the car in the park, they felt it shift for a moment as they just stared up to the house. "Need any help getting it up there?"

It was an honest gesture; being on a hill anything in the back would love to want just to fall right out once the gate was opened and the mountain that the house itself sat on was the kind where you felt like you would either fall back and down the hill or if you leaned too far forward would faceplant into the ground.

"It's fine." She answered, unbuckling her belt. "Hopefully, my dad or mom will just notice when everyone else is distracted. God forbid they switch from what they're doing now to a game of 99 questions in two minutes."

"That bad, huh?"

"Half of them know and _don't_ know I'm a ghostbuster. Hell, they might watch a lot of television, but the news is something that I'm pretty sure they deleted from their service."

"Trust me, at this point, I _know_ how that feels." he chuckled. Waiting for a bit as he felt the weight of the vehicle shift and the gate come down with a thud.

As Rachel came around, he rolled down the window, leaning out as far as he could, "Remember to call if anything happens."

She let out a little chuckle, "Stay safe, Derek." She replied with a warm smile as he did the same with a nod. Adjusting her scarf and grip, she heads up to the house with her bag equipment case up the driveway.

Waiting till she to the front door, the moment she opened it even, he heard the big cheer come from inside when she walked through and disappeared behind the closing door. Slowly letting the window roll back up and get more of the heat circulating again in the car, Derek checked the street and moved forward away from the house to his own.

It was another half hour having to deal with the winding back roads with the occasional ice spot and a top-heavy vehicle.

For Derek, though, it was a much more relaxing feeling driving down a road he hadn't been on for months. It was strange, like the feeling you get when you got off a long day of work and finally heading home.

Soon he came to a straightaway where a row of houses with their lights casting over the road came about the corner. One by one, they passed by without a glance till before he started going down the hill, did he reach the entrance to his driveway.

The house still looked much the same as it ever did, even in the night with all the spotlights on and the additional Christmas decorations already strung up and going. All over the yard, he could see paw prints in the snow leading up to the deck and his garage that still had door covered up by plywood.

Opting to just pull up in front of his garage, Derek took a hard glance up at the house before heading out to gather his things. Given how he had the car with him, he opted to leave his equipment inside and instead just take his suitcase as in any event of an incoming call; he would already have the stuff ready and loaded.

Making sure to lock up the sound of his car beeping suddenly brought forth the sound of barking from within the house. He cracked a smile at knowing his black lab Prime was going to be very excited to see him again. He was coming up the rest of the drive and rising sidewalk to the door that had a Christmas hanging over the window he set his case down to the side and knocked four times.

The reaction to this was immediately acknowledged by the barking becoming louder, and the sound of scratching on the other side of the door came. He briefly saw a shadow move around before the door was wooshed open with a familiar welcoming face.

"Derek," Jasmine Stewart said with a big smile to her son with her arms reaching out to him.

"Hey, mom." He reached out and hugged her in return.

Since her accident, she was mostly stuck to being in the hospital for a good chunk of 2012 into parts of 2013. But back when he started Busting and getting a steady inflow of cash, they were able to start building up and even paying off a chunk of the need procedures to help her get back up and going.

Because of it, she still had a bit of trouble with breathing in times of long durations of labor, so she more or less now worked from home as an associate to her new job that thankfully was more relaxing (depending on how you looked at it) than the previous one.

When they started pulling away before they could say anything, a black blur suddenly appeared from behind Jasmine as a black lab sporting a decent level of gray under his chin came up and leaped up to Derek.

"Hey, boy! I bet you missed me, alright." Quickly having to switch from his mother to holding up his excited dog Derek used one arm to support him while using another to give him scratches.

Prime was an old dog, he was old when they got him back in 2010 when he was a bit shyer but within days (and after four attempts at giving him a suitable bath to be able to come inside) was just a new loveable ball that enjoyed his time here with their big yard and pool. Though a good chunk of time, you would see him either curled up in front of the fireplace, the end of the hallway, or behind the couch napping away the day.

He was a people's dog that just loved attention, and when the door opens would no doubt go to see who it is. And the moment Derek popped in, he was all over him.

Even so, trying to give him a couple of greeting licks that were a bit out of range, he eventually let go for Derek's arm and resorted to running around him wanting all the contact he could get. Plopping down on the deck and rolling over in which Derek gladly gave him a belly rub.

"He missed you like hell. Every time we went to bed, he would curl up on the side, you usually slept on and even brought his bed over onto yours." Jasmine chuckled at the memory. Derek even let out a little laugh knowing that it would be something Prime would do.

"Come on, boy. Let's go inside." Upon feeling the belly rubs stop and Derek moving towards the door, Prime bolted back upright, shaking away anything that was on him and headed in.

Grabbing his case inside as he pulled the door closed, he was greeted with the oh so welcomed warmth of the crackling fire that was roaring in the living room with the Christmas tree shining brightly in the space between the living and dining rooms. Prime took the route through the kitchen and dining room, resulting in his tail whacking the tree and getting some tinsel stuck on him.

Moving away from that matter, he was greeted with the familiar sight of his now 53-year-old father sitting at the end of the couch watching the TV while in the opposite section, his sister Lisa and her boyfriend Scott sat watching as well. Placing his stuff behind the couch, he looped around behind his mom between the couch and a vacant recliner that he gratefully plopped down with a satisfying sigh as it rocked back.

"So, what's New York like?" his mother asked as she got adjusted on the couch.

"Its... It's been something." Derek tiredly said as if it was a pain just speaking about it. "I know sure as hell that this turkey is gonna get burned off once I get back."

"Huh, the news sure as hell likes to cover you guys a lot." His sister gestured to the TV, "Abc likes to have you at least twice a day. Especially back in August."

Derek groaned at the mention of August. At the time of the month rolling in, it was just the same as any other day until a literal outbreak hit the upper west side for days. It was the time where they had started more into having people take shifts with both Day and Night Crews, having three people each and two others to act as the intermediate and backup.

Once they got the area clear up just a few days into September, they were tired as hell, but the state that it had left their bank accounts made it all worth it.

"Yeah, it's strange seeing my face on national television, let alone knowing a camera crew is probably following us somehow..."

Ironically enough, once he had said that the topic of 'Macy's Day Parade Ghostbusters: In or Out?' popped on with the news lady talking about the debate if they would be there or not.

"Hell, biggest parade ever. It should be fun for you."

Derek shook his head, "In it directly? Probably not. Maybe one day... As something like a security measure? Most likely. We really don't have the backing, and having to get ready for it would mean us busting ass, no joke intended, but up and be ready in the morning. I doubt anyone would be ready to get out of bed by then, let alone have to walk up and down the...route..."

It was slowly dawning to Derek that maybe being directly part of the parade was actually a lot better idea. Covering _blocks _worth of ground with hundreds to thousands of people lining the streets would no doubt mean they would have to break out all their stuff for this. He knew that Roger would have to be their real eyes for the whole event (if he got the permit to fly a helicopter above giant parade balloons), and that was just what they could do at the time.

"At this point... it's more like a runaway train than my dream job. First, it was all fine just operating around here, and bouncing around Pittsburgh helped much more. Going to New York I thought, okay 'Find the problem, blast it, doesn't work so try something else, blast again, celebrate, go home' kind of thing." sighing he sank further into the chair, "But now its come to the point where the business is right now both boom and bust. When we get busy, _we get busy. _When it's dead, it's literally as dead as the things we fight."

"You could go looking for schools. With how you made your stuff, I'm willing to beat some schools are willing to help get you a degree in engineering."

Derek had mused over the idea once in a blue moon. He really didn't care much about school, sure once the latter part of middle and most of the classes he chose in high school helped him build up to now, he wasn't one to just sit in a lecture hall learning about stuff that was just to be an excuse to make the costs so high.

Though it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility, Rachel was soon to start online courses in March, and Jack was already into his second semester. The Smiths he could, well, barely see getting into mechanics since they already got a hell of a start, and Leo would be following close behind or even ahead of Derek.

But after that thought, he slowly shook his head, "Maybe... if our financial situation isn't crap. And hopefully, once we get the firehouse finish and close this case with the oil company, we can actually focus our attention elsewhere."

But that didn't fade away completely. If anything, it started playing in his mind like a broken record. Hell, as far as he was concerned, they had been in constant business longer than any incarnation of Ghostbusters from Day 1 of business. Though for some cases it was the fact that business was slow, then got REAL busy, big bad shows up and is blasted, activity drops to either barely anything to nothing at all.

For them, it was active right out of the gate, and even during these dead days, the activity would be bound to spike again. Yet even after all this, they oddly went backward to where despite going bigger, they were hurting. And it would only be a matter of time before the supernatural well went dry.

Maybe if they did end up closing up for good, maybe he could go back to his original idea of his project? He did succeed in making a power unit that could run his houses for years and just need the occasional maintenance and coolant refill.

It was an option in the cards that they could still play—countless investment opportunities for anyone looking for a portable cyclotron that fires a laser beam.

But now feeling that the conversation seemed to have tamper off, he took a moment to glance at his watch, wincing at how it was past midnight now.

"Whelp," he patted his knees, standing up, "That drive was a pain. I am going to bed now."

"You?" His sister asked in a mock surprise tone, "Your bedtime is usually around two am."

Grabbing his case turned to the stairs and started his way up, "Yeah, it use to be..."

Heading down the dark hallway that only had a small outlet light as a source, Derek head towards the closed second door. When he came into his room, he felt at more ease than he usually was for most of the year. His bed was neatly made with all four pillows (2 for use 2 for support) placed in their spots. His drapes were still closed, leaving the only source of light coming from his wall clock that bathed the room in a calm blue. And yet all along his dresser and headboard were his collectibles he had gotten over time from grifts to conventions.

It was comforting to be back in a familiar place where he would initially spend his 'bland' days on the computer or drawing up more 'plans' for his projects till it was 3 AM on a school night.

With a sigh, he moved to place his case away. Opting at the time to just have it up against the wall and be dealt with in the morning like it was a usual routine for him before leaving. Kicking off his boots, tossing his coat onto what was his computer desk, he pulled the blankets aside and leaned back across his bed—feeling both the warm and cold feeling go across his skin with the welcoming form that the bed had from him sleeping there for years.

When he slowly started to close, he was abruptly stopped when he felt a large mass jump onto the bed and brush fur across his arm. Looking over, he was amused by the sight of Prime making a little circle around the foot of his bed before laying down to where his front paws rested over his arm.

Looking form with his wagging tail beating against the covers, Derek reached over and gave him a nice rub between the ears.

Seeing his dog be happier from the action and inching closer to him for more, Derek happily obliged. And yet from this, since this crazy adventure started, he actually felt relaxed now.

* * *

**Starting halfway through its current state, I started writing what I felt was a completely different chapter. I had initially wanted this to act as another plugin chapter that continued about their current situation and even feed more into what is to come for the group. But as I went, I started thinking about the time of year this was happening had what all the other events in the world were happening around the team. **

**For the most part, this was meant to be a bit more fast pace towards the end with Mike originally coming to Derek to take to him about getting the team some actual training. But I felt that would come at the last time from around chapters 8 or 10. **

**Strangely, writing this chapter made it feel like I was reflecting a bit more on what I hope to get this universe too. Most stories/series just focus on the direct situation, but for me, I want a world that can be seen as one that can be lived like usual despite its strange additions.**

**And even more odd, many who have suffered writer's block have the moment where when dealing with a big story they write it all out (to a shortened level) to understand what needs to be written out in chapters. But in doing so results in them saying, 'Well, it's technically written now. No point in continuing'.**

**From what I've found about this chapter and how I set up my timeline, I could build up the daily lives and interactions of the characters and world while still being on track.**


End file.
